The Washington critic., 1887-12-13
TOPICS OF THE DAY.
Something About The Man DreSSmaker
Of The White House.
JAMES &. BLAlNE'S MEMORY.
General Shcr!dnu'a Careful Prcscrva-
tion OF Military Records.

'ibh VI NlI'lNtN i'tbfuS.
General sheridan is the
only lannon's commander of the late war,
slys mcfarland in the Philadelphia
Record, who has not caught the scrib-
bliug fever lie has published little or
nothing of his recollcCtions of the war.
and has discouraged others from doing
SO. Ills idea Is that war rccollcctions ut
twenty years range are not worth much,
that history had better be made out of
contemporary records and reports. lie
does all that hc can to have these pre-
served and prepared for the use Of the
future historian. lie carefully kept the
originals or copies Of all letters, telc-
grams. orders, and SO forth, sent or re-
Ccivcd by him during the war. Some of
these were destroyed in the Chicago fire.
But he docs not regret this SO much
as he might, because il was the cause of
his making "iind" of greater value
than all his documents put together.
When hc came on to Washington,
having determined to replace his lost
treasures with copies if he could do no
better he was told that he might find in
the attic Of the White House some of
the kilograms that President Lincoln
had sent. He went up there himself,
and by delving and digging got out OF II
mass of stuff n very large number Of
President Lincoln's war kilograms, ad-
dressed not only to him but to all the
other Federal generals. He had them
removed ut once to safe place. and
L. L.... r..
The future historian of the war will
some of the best of the material laid up
for him.
s"s
"Thc stories about Mr. Blaine's mem
DRY we hear so much about" said n
kennebcckcr the other day TO the Port
land correspondent of the Boston Jour
nal, "seem very remarkable indeed, but
they are not at all exaggerated. l re-
member a case in point, and it was an
experience of my own. You doubtless
remember the great Maranacook meet
ing few years ago, when Mr.. Blaine
and several other very prominent Re-
publicans addressed thousands of Maine
people. Well, was on the depot plat
form at our town when the train taking
Mr.. Blaine home to Augusta passed
through. / didn't know he was there,
and after the cars stopped l stood for q
few moments back TO them talking
with neighbor who had been
over to the rally. why, how are you?'
said voice from an open window call
ing me by my first name. ] turned and
found myself shaking hands with Mr..
Blaine. 1t was all of n dozen years
since | had seen him and then only
once or twice and for but few mo-
ments. / remember l had had good
deal of correspondence with him IN the
meantime about our postofiice, but in
ali that time / had never seen him.
Now If he had seen my face, why that
would have not been so very uncommon,
hut to have remembered all that time
the back Of my neck was quite remark
able"
~,
There is some wonder, saws the New
York Tribune, over the rapid spread of
typc-writing and stenographic offices
over the city. Every hotel now has
such an office. There are one or more
such offices in all the large Office build
ings down town. The fact is that few
of the stcnographers pay any rent.
They pay for office room with small
portion of their services, and because it
is so handy" to have them near by in
case of emergency. The many schools
of stenography and type-writing are
turning out so-called stenographers and
type-wrters at rapid rate. An old and
expert operator says that no less than
If, IN, Jt,pIral ,,,,l.,
and young men are weekly graduated"
and start out TO essay the earning of
living in this branch. Few of these are
really competent. Their services can
be secured Mt from So to $l5 per week.
~
Mrs. Cleveland has man drcssmaker,
says the New York lIerald's Washington
correspondent. His name is Thomas
w. Grimes. lie is good-looking,
dapper little fellow, about % years OF
age. He is as great an autocrat in his
way as Worth, the celebrated man
milliner of Paris is. Since Mrs. Clcve-
land began patronizing him year ago,
his business has grown enormously.
At the present time every woman in
Washington, who processes to be any
body, has her gowns made by Grimes.
His rooms are located on Pennsylvania
avenue, two blocks west of the White
House. All day long constant sue
cession of carriages stands before his
door. He makes engagements with his
customers weeks ahead. lie observes Il
great deal of method in his business
operations, and will see no one out of
theirrCglilar turn. Caiolery or ilattery has
no more effect upon him than upon the
stone walls of the Government buildings
opposite. In Grimes presence tho
hlughtiest beauty becomes as meek as /,
cooling dove. Ills rules are made to be
obcyed, and the woman who runs coun-
ter TO his wishes pays the penalty of be-
ing stricken oil his list. Once of it re.
qiircs an influence equal to that neces.
s3ry for q foreign, mission to be rein
etalel again. Mr.. Grimes is an ardent
ahmrcr of Mrs. Cleveland. He never
ii!,a of describing to his customers how
simple and unaffected she is and how
l!,'o trouble she gives him. Mrs. Fol
SOM, too, finds great favor in his eyes
Nr. Grimes was originally man tailor
: ic earned n fair living in this manner
~ number Of years, when he gradu
: orked into his present occupation
,'w that he has become the star a
.ose shrine all the female votaries o
'hion in Washington worship, his
use, if he lives q few years longer, il
,ry safely assured.
Grand lodge of Eils's Election.
SAty-ninc Of the b. 7. o. Elks were as